Helena Jockelova

With deep sadness the family of Helena Jockel shares this news of her passing on November 4th, 2016, in her home. Helena "Ibi" Jockel was born in Mukačevo, Ukraine on October 23, 1919 to parents Ben Zion and Miriam. She was one of eight siblings: Jolanka, Mendu, Eugene, Roszie, Chaim, Joseph​ and​ Agi.​ Helena was a school teacher, who dedicated her life to educating children about literature and language. She was an avid reader, and fluent in six languages.

When the Nazi soldiers invaded her elementary school classroom in Hungary on March 19, 1944, Helena only ​thought about how to save ​her ​students. She accompanied​ them to the Auschwitz concentration camp, only to see them taken to the gas chamber. After surviving the WWII genocide, Helena settled in a new home in Znojmo, Czechoslovakia. In 1948, she married her widowed brother-in-law, Emil Jockel. They remained in Czechoslovakia until Helena retired, and then immigrated to Canada in 1988 to join their daughter, Jana and son, Pavel. She loved spending her retirement close to her three grandchildren.

Due to the oppressive communist regime in Czechoslovakia, Helena was unable to talk about the atrocities she endured during the war. Once she arrived in Canada, Helena dedicated her life to educating Canadians about the atrocities of the Holocaust. She believed that by sharing her knowledge and experience of war, she could help to end racism and violence. In 2009, the province of Nova Scotia acknowledged her activism by awarding her the Human Rights Award. Her autobiography, We Sang in Hushed Voices, was published in 2014.

Helena is survived by her children, Jana and Pavel (Klara) of Halifax; grandchildren, Tom, Dan, and Yolana also of Halifax; and her nieces, Vera and Rose of the Czech Republic.

Helena will be missed and loved forever. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations are made to the Atlantic Jewish Council's fund for Holocaust Education.